A high-end wine heist is a reflection of peculiar times
Thieves steal tens of thousands of dollars worth of fine wine, Costco opens their first New Zealand outlet and a questionable new bean curd snack.
Nau mai, haere mai. Welcome to The Boil Up, The Spinoff’s weekly food newsletter produced in partnership with Boring Oat Milk. Written by me, Charlotte Muru-Lanning. It’s lovely to have you here!
In October last year, 45 vintage bottles of wine vanished from a Spanish restaurant after the arrival of “a mysterious couple”. The pair broke into the famous cellar and made off with a haul that included a 1806 Château D’Yquem and a huge amount of Domaine de la Romanée Conti. The total stolen was worth an estimated €1.6m. After a nine-month international manhunt, the “professional thieves” were tracked down and arrested in Croatia.
Two weeks ago, an Auckland wine shop experienced its own wine heist of 45 different types of wines (albeit in a slightly less chase film-esque fashion). Around midnight on Thursday 15, a masked trio broke into Glengarry Wines in the beachside suburb Herne Bay – a suburb which incidentally was home to New Zealand’s most expensive property sale last year. A nearly seven-minute-video posted on Youtube by the fine wine, beer and spirit retailers, shows security footage of torch-wielding burglars in track pants surveying labels on the rare wines and ports in the store’s cellar before making their selection and leaving. The Herald reported that the wines hurriedly loaded into boxes included two bottles of Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion, each worth $2215. All up, NZ $35,000 worth of wines were stolen according to Glengarry.
Given the selective nature of the theft, the retailers said in their weekly email newsletter that “this was very much a targeted operation”. Noting that the pair were on the phone at the time, they believed they were stealing to a specific list as they bypassed cheaper bottles and opted for pricey vintages. Because of the rare and collectible nature of the wines, wine specialist Bob Campbell told the Herald he believed the stolen wines were intended to be drunk or served rather than individually sold-on for easy cash.
Strangely, the concept of a high-end wine heist feels befittingly reflective of the weird times we’re living in when it comes to crime and the economy.
Over the weekend, another Glengarry store, this time in north Auckland suburb Takapuna, became the latest store to be hit in a spate of ram raids. A car was used to smash through the front door of the beachside store at 4.40am on Sunday.
Along with inflation, ram raids and smash-and-grab theft have dominated the news cycle this year. And while in positive news, the number of young people ending up in court is dropping, in July, Emma Vitz discussed how reported theft, which has always been the most commonly reported crime in New Zealand, has increased by 25.2% since before the pandemic. “Almost every part of the country has experienced double digit increases in the frequency of crime,” Vitz wrote in The Spinoff piece. With experts linking the uptick in stealing to the cost of living crisis, it’s a problem that’s likely wrapped into the same concoction of crises that are encouraging more interest in wine investment.
The secondary market for wine is currently roaring, meaning there’s growing interest in buying for reasons beyond personal enjoyment and bragging rights. In February, Spinoff senior writer Chris Shulz took a look at how more and more often, people both locally and overseas are seeing bottles as an investment.
With climbing global inflation, Covid-19 disruptions and a whole barrage of other crises hitting headlines worldwide, it’s little wonder investors are stocking up their humidity and temperature controlled cellars. Fine wine appreciates, making it a valuable commodity in inflationary times when cash is conversely depreciating. According to Liv-ex, the global marketplace for wine trade, last year was the most successful year ever for the secondary wine market internationally. Traditionally, gold has been seen as a safe haven during periods of inflation, but last year, while the price of gold stumbled, fine wine surged to record highs.
As for the wines stolen from Glengarry’s, their whereabouts is still unknown. But if you find yourself served one of the 45 wines they’ve listed as stolen – it’s quite likely you’re drinking a very expensive and potentially stolen drop.
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Weekly bites
Similar to ‘epidemiology’ and ‘incubation period’, the term ‘microplastics’ is a relatively new and very unwelcome addition to my vocabulary. Unfortunately the word, which refers to the tiny plastic particles that find their way into our food, is going to become more and more relevant to our lives, if we continue on our current trajectory. A study from the University of Otago has found three-quarters of commercially caught wild fish in New Zealand's southern waters contain microplastics. According to RNZ, the research looked at a sample of 155 fish from 10 species, caught off the Otago coast over the course of a year. Packaging, clothes, and fishing nets are some of the likely sources. For a country that, in a culinary sense at least, often defines itself by way of our seafood, it’s thoroughly bleak news.
During the grocery sector market study, Consumer NZ called for new rules to stop retailers from using confusing promotional strategies. For example, multi-buys that are the same price as the individual item (multiplied), or products selling for their regular price despite being advertised as “on special”. In the end, rather than institute new rules, the Commerce Commision recommended supermarkets take responsibility. But Consumer NZ isn’t convinced supermarkets will change their ways without consumer pressure and are asking the public to help call out misleading, unclear or straight up dodgy supermarket promotions by sending examples to playfair@consumer.org.nz.
Which reminds me, wholesale retailer Costco, which has been touted as a potential disruptor to the supermarket duopoly enjoyed by Foodstuffs and Woolworths for the last two decades, opened their first New Zealand store in West Auckland this week. The Spinoff’s Stewart Sowman-Lund joined the frenzied queue of people waiting, some overnight, to be the first customers through the door. As well as bulk grocery items, they sell coffins, cups, clothing and christmas presents – but I’m most intrigued by the $1.99 hotdog and refillable soda.
I like to think that if I was in a Hollywood film, I’d be typing this newsletter on an orange Apple iMac from a bench in a Starbucks right now. The coffee shop chain is the quintessential third place, where customers can mooch about for hours on end chatting with friends, reading, or, as the stereotype goes, writing a novel, all while sipping on a java chip frappuccino with cream or some other coffee-esque concoction. As the company evolves away from their third-place origins, leans into operating like any other takeaway restaurant, and sheds their (rather dubious) progressive reputation through accusations of union-busting, this article from Eater asks what the point of Starbucks even is anymore.
Pre-pandemic, I flew relatively frequently and so I often reminisce the joys of foil-covered meals, bread rolls, bloody marys and if I’m being specific about it, a wondrously fluffy raspberry jelly sponge I was served on an Air New Zealand flight in January 2020 (would love the recipe). Despite the pandemic dragging on three years later, international travel seems to be making a comeback. With that has come an opportunity for airlines to revisit their menus. This article from the Financial Times is a fascinating look into how airlines are using the science and psychology of food, oh, and caviar to lure customers into business and first-class seats again.
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The weekly snack
Fupi Beancurd Skin Crisps Mala/ Hotpot Tomato, $5.99 from Jadan: These caught my attention, mostly, because they were on special – reduced by 50% – and I can’t walk past a bargain. But, among the throngs of vividly coloured chip bags on the shelf, I was also pretty drawn to the packaging, with its minimalist design printed on a relatively weighty bag. Fupi is a Singaporean brand and according to their website, the world’s first bean curd skin snack. I love mala flavour, the spicy and numbing sauce that finds its way into hot pots, stir frys and of course, mala tang. So I was surprised that upon opening the bag and taking a preliminary whiff, I immediately felt slightly nauseous. A distinctly mala scent was there, yes, but there was also a dull hint of mustiness. Texturally, the chips are lovely and lightly crispy. But I couldn’t even manage more than one bite – the flavour powder dusted on each chip was just unpleasantly acrid, and the entire bag went in the bin immediately. A disappointing take on a usually delightful flavour blend. 1/10
Talk next week!
Hei kōnā mai, Charlotte
